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Holy crap! What happened? I had so many plans for this blog! I even had planned a comeback last month! Time slipped away from me, however, and now the year is almost up, with 5 months out of the game. I will try to get done some blog post during my Christmas break, and I hope I will make it, but I really don’t know.
I’ve bought myself a new computer, so I really need to test the new features, and write some posts to get the feeling of the keyboard. Seems good – so far.

Many things have happened since the last time I blogged: among other things, Avenged Sevenfold published a new album, which I am currently writing a review of that I will publish here, Evanescence toured in the US, and debuted a new song live, which I’m also going to post about, and I have written a few half-done posts I will get around to finish and publish as soon as I can.
I have neglected to publish my opinion about a lot of great albums and artists I’ve listened to the past 2 years, and I want to do something about that. I can’t promise anything, because my time schedule looks ridiculous for the next half-a-year or so, but as always, I will try.

I hope most of you are still with me, and that those who stumble upon me at this moment will continue to follow me here on out.

“Call my name and save me from the dark”
(Bring Me To Life – Evanescence)

Hi everyone! First, I’d like to say that I have gone through all the posts on this blog and replaced the links and videos that don’t exist any more with working ones, so that you can easily listen to the music I write about without going through the trouble of finding them yourselves. So now, everything should be alright.
It’s actually been closer to three years since I did a Slipknot-post, and of the bands I have listened to over the years, this is one of those that has stuck by me since I discovered them. On that note, I think now’s the time to revive them on my blog (I have done playlists with them since 2013, but not song reviews). I’ve chosen a song I’ve discovered not so long ago, despite it being around for a pretty long time: The Heretic Anthem, off the album Iowa (2001). You can read the lyrics here. Enjoy!

I just love how the sound image is so complex, and still works like a bitch. It’s one of Slipknot’s trademarks, if you ask me, and a reason why they are so popular. The guitars are killing it, with hard hitting riffs. The double bass drums make the song even harder, not to speak of the rest of the percussionists’ artwork. Corey Taylor, yelling the angry lyrics as he is surrounded by a heavy atmosphere of sound. I also love the idea of Corey calling and the rest of the band answering in the refrain. Sometimes I wonder how I can think of this as beautiful, but I simply enjoy great musicians doing what they do best, and Slipknot do have something special, in my opinion.

A lot has happened lately. Sad, tragic events driven by hate, evil, and even carelessness. The mass-shooting in Orlando, among other things. The revealing of decades of sexual assault among people in a community in my home county, is another. On top of that, several accidental deaths of people, gone too soon. Actually, the last year has been just all messed up. I don’t have any words to describe the feeling I have, really. Many of my favorite artists have made some great music addressing hate, disaster, and death, and so, I have made a playlist of songs that deal with these topics, that maybe can put words and sound to these feelings. You can subscribe to my Spotify list or go check it out on YouTube. If you have any suggestions, I’d love to hear them. Take care of each other.

Disturbed – Who Taught You How To Hate

Evanescence – My Heart Is Broken

Avenged Sevenfold – Tonight The World Dies

Machine Head – Damage Inside

Five Finger Death Punch – Coming Down

Alter Bridge – Blackbird

Amy Lee feat. Dave Eggar – Lockdown

Korn – Thoughtless

Avenged Sevenfold – Almost Easy

Evanescence – Together Again

Lady Gaga – Til It Happens To You

Seether feat. Amy Lee – Broken

Avenged Sevenfold – Save Me

Machine Head – Who We Are

Slipknot – Dead Memories

Evanescence – Oceans

We Are The Fallen – Don’t Leave Me Behind

Avenged Sevenfold – Seize The Day

Linkin Park – No More Sorrow

Evanescence – My Last Breath

Machine Head – Is There Anybody Out There?

“Tell me now, who taught you how to hate?Cause it isn’t in your blood, not a part of what you’re made”
(Who Taught You How To Hate – Disturbed)

Hi there! I just really need to address this matter while it’s still fresh, to get out my initial excitement. So, today (June 3rd 2016) Machine Head published a new single called Is There Anybody out There?, independent from any album (as far as I know). I really hope you enjoy this one. (Lyrics at the end of the post).

There was expressed fear that this song wouldn’t sound like a Machine Head song. Let me give my opinion: This is definitely a Machine Head song. Might sound a bit different than the other songs, but Rob Flynn’s vocals, the heavy guitars and drums and bass are there, the newly heavily incorporated classical instruments are there, like violins and cellos, and the lyrical themes are definitely there, which is the things I think make a song sound like Machine Head, at least these days.

I like the whistling in the intro, it gives a good feeling to the song, even though it’s kind of a false feeling because of the lyrics. But I definitely will get the melody stuck in my head for the next few days, perhaps even the whole month. I love the guitar riffs, especially in the intro, but overall good, and the combination of metal and classical in the choruses is excellent. The bridge and breakdown is great too: “Live my life like I’ll die tonight / Dream like I’ll live forever”. The sound of it is so good – the sound of the string instruments makes it sound like a horror movie, and I think it’s brilliant that they’ve incorporated the whistling in the breakdown as well. Flynn’s vocals are definitely as angry as they should be – raw and awesome.
The lyrics are kind of divided with one theme in the first verse, and another one in the second, and both well written, but still has an overall theme linked through the chorus. In the second verse they address a really important matter in the heavy metal and hard rock community, and really have been brave in publishing this song despite controversy and death threats. It’s about racism in metal, triggered by an incident earlier this year, at Dimebash 2016. The other themes in the song are love, loneliness and not understanding what’s going on in the world (according to Flynn himself). You can go and check out Rob Flynn’s reaction to the incident and the two making-of videos for the song at Machine Head’s YouTube channel (here).
I’ve tried to get the lyrics correctly by listening to it a bunch of times, since it’s so fresh that none of the standard lyric-pages I use have added the lyrics yet. Used my ears as good as I could, and got a little help from a YouTube-video (this one) (I will correct them if I get direct info from the band of the actual lyrics). I’m here, I’m listening, and I hear you. I stand with Rob Flynn and Machine Head.

Is there anybody out there? (x4)Come on (x3)Is anybody there?Come on (x2)

Let me tell you something
I was born as a bastardNo father, no masterA shadow in silence left searching for answersPut up for adoptionAnd left with no optionAnother kid fostered to fester, forgottenTake a look into these desperate eyesAs they’re cast into the wretched hive
But I ain’t going down alone

Is there anybody out there?Anybody listening to me?Is anybody else scared?The paranoia drops me to my kneesDoes anybody feel lonely?Disconnected from the things I seeIs there anybody out there?Anybody out there just like me?I’m choking on these words and I can’t breathe

Come on (x3)Is anybody there?Come on (x2)
Now let me say this

Now I stand as a fatherTo men with no honorAshamed of the racists I used to call brothersCause no flag can mean braveryWhen bloodied by slaveryThe rebel, a devil, disguised as a saviorAnd the sickening feeling in the airIs the fear to speak that no one dares
So will I stand here all alone?

Is there anybody out there?Anybody listening to me?Is anybody else scared?The paranoia drops me to my kneesDoes anybody feel lonely?Disconnected from the things I seeIs there anybody out there?Anybody out there just like me?Choking on these words and I can’t breathe

Live my life like I’ll die tonightDream like I’ll live forever (x2)Is there anybody out there?

I have roared at the world for years(Is there anybody out there?)Doesn’t anybody hear me?This burden suffered, I’ve paid the cost(Is there anybody out there?)Not all who wander are lost
Is there anybody, is there anybody, is there anybody…

Is there anybody out there?Anybody listening to me?Is anybody else scared?The paranoia drops me to my kneesDoes anybody feel lonely?Disconnected from the things I seeIs there anybody out there?Anybody out there just like me?Choking on these words and I can’t breathe

Come on (x3)Is anybody there?Come on (x2)Is there anybody, is there anybody…Is there anybody out there?
(Is There Anybody Out There – Machine Head)

Good morning! (or at least for me, this time of day is morning). Just thought I would share a video I came across, which excites me and I think is great.

I love Disturbed, so this was just a special treat for me to stumble upon on YouTube. As you can see, the audience loved it too. For reference, this is Nine Inch Nails – Closer, U2 – Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For, The Who – Baba O’Riley, and Rage Against The Machine – Killing In The Name.
I’m not going to comment any more on this, I just wanted to spread the joy. So, please enjoy and have a good day.

“You get me closer to God”
(Closer – Nine Inch Nails)

“I have run, I have crawledI have scaled these city wallsThese city wallsOnly to be with you.”
(Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For – U2)

Hi there! I want to say first and foremost that I really appreciate my readers, and I hope I make it worth coming back to this site, because all of you make it worthwhile for me to write.

However, I write this blog mainly to share great music and to express myself in the way I know how – through music (which I can’t make myself). Today I want to blow off some steam, and yesterday I made myself a new Spotify-list that I decided right now that I want to share, because I’ve been pretty much happily head banging all day, and this list is what keeps me sane (in addition to my boyfriend) whilst writing on my Bachelor’s thesis. Here’s the link to the list on my Spotify-channel, and below is the actual list, in case you don’t have Spotify and want to make it yourself (in alphabetical order after artist and album):

Anthrax – The Devil You Know

Atreyu – Long Live

Audioslave – Show Me How To Live

Avenged Sevenfold – Critical Acclaim

Avenged Sevenfold – Unbound (The Wild Ride)

Avenged Sevenfold – Beast And The Harlot

Avenged Sevenfold – Blinded In Chains

Avenged Sevenfold – Shepherd Of Fire

Avenged Sevenfold – Hail To The King

Avenged Sevenfold – Doing Time

Avenged Sevenfold – Nightmare

Avenged Sevenfold – Welcome To The Family

Avenged Sevenfold – Natural Born Killer

Avenged Sevenfold – God Hates Us

Avenged Sevenfold – Unholy Confessions

Avenged Sevenfold – Chapter Four

Avenged Sevenfold – Desecrate Through Reverence

Avenged Sevenfold – Second Heartbeat

Blinded Colony – Bedtime Prayers

Dead By Sunrise – Crawl Back In

Device – Vilify

Devilskin – Elvis Presley Circle Pit

Dimmu Borgir – Gateways

Disturbed – Warrior

Disturbed – Immortalized

Disturbed – Who Taught You How To Hate

Disturbed – Indestructible

Disturbed – Voices

Disturbed – Stupify

Disturbed – Down With The Sickness

Disturbed – Stricken

Disturbed – The Vengeful One

Drowning Pool – Bodies

Five Finger Death Punch – My Nemesis

Five Finger Death Punch – Dying Breed

Five Finger Death Punch – Here To Die

Five Finger Death Punch – Burn MF

Flyleaf – Call You Out

Halestorm – I Am The Fire

Halestorm – Daughters Of Darkness

KoЯn – Thoughtless

Linkin Park – Papercut

Linkin Park – One Step Closer

Machine Head – Hallowed Be Thy Name

Machine Head – Killers & Kings

Machine Head – Ghosts Will Haunt My Bones

Machine Head – Night Of Long Knives

Machine Head – Eyes Of The Dead

Machine Head – Take Me Through The Fire

Machine Head – Bulldozer

Machine Head – I Am Hell (Sonata in C#)

Machine Head – Be Still And Know

Machine Head – Pearls Before The Swine

Rage Against The Machine – Bulls On Parade

Rage Against The Machine – Killing In The Name

Slipknot – Sulfur

Slipknot – People=Shit

Slipknot – The Heretic Anthem

Slipknot – (sic)

Slipknot – Eyeless

This list is 60 songs (at the current time, at least!), and by Spotify’s calculations, 4 hours and 40 minutes of heaviness. No, I didn’t include Evanescence in this one, I thought some of my lists might repeat themselves if I were to include them in all of them. This one I decided to call “Heavy Shit”, and might be added to over time, and some songs might even be removed as well, so keep checking in. (I might forget to add to this “physical” list, but I will try to remember). This might be somewhat like my anger nurturing list, but mostly I added these songs for the great head banging-factor and overall heaviness (okay, I might be a bit angry and frustrated over my paper, and that’s why I need these songs, but they are awesome to listen to anyway). Would love for you to come with heavy suggestions too, if you think some songs are missing; I might even add them.

“Let the right one inYa gotta go with the devil you know”
(The Devil You Know – Anthrax)

“I find the answers aren’t so clearWish I could find a way to disappearAll these thoughts they make no senseI find bliss in ignoranceNothing seems to go awayOver and over again”[…]“I need a little room to breatheCause I’m one step closer to the edgeAnd I’m about to break”
(One Step Closer – Linkin Park)

Hi! Been a little busy with my Bachelor’s thesis, but I’m taking the evening off to do some other things, like house chores and blogging. So, I thought I would share my current favorite song. For the past few days I’ve been listening to the song Who Taught You How To Hate by Disturbed, off their latest album, Immortalized (2015). Falling in and out of love with music and writing, and the fact that I take my studies seriously, is what makes this blog unstable. But lately I’ve tried to write some stuff which I publish every few days, but now it’s suddenly been almost a month since my last post. Anyways. Here are the lyrics to the song, and below is the song (hopefully embedded in the post, WordPress can be a little unreliable in that aspect). Enjoy!

As always, I love Disturbed’s guitar riffs. They don’t need to be complicated even, because they sound great anyways, and just simply rock. With a good drum beat and bass chugging as well, this is a song to get stuck in your head. And don’t think I forgot the lyrics and Draiman’s impeccable voice. The lyrics tells a tale of people, innocent at first, but all eventually corrupted by hate. There is someone who has made you so angry and hateful, someone who “plants an evil seed”. He’s asking if there’s a cure for it, for this infection, or if all is lost. Really poetic, and relevant, because there are so many people who is filled with hate, and Draiman’s kind of saying that people aren’t born with hate, that someone taught them how to hate. I think I’m not the only one that can find some truth in his words, which is all wrapped up in Draiman’s powerful voice and with convincing emotion. Combine all these aspects, and, to me, this all adds up to nothing short of a metal anthem. (Great headbanging-factor!). Catchy like a motherfucker, as well.

“Find my hands on his throatYet hear myself sayTell me now, who taught you how to hate?Because it isn’t in your bloodNot a part of what you’re madeSo let this be understoodSomebody taught you how to hateWhen you live this way, you becomeDead to everyone”

I kinda promised you some good fucking music a while back (in the post about Machine Head’s Eyes Of the Dead, back in January), with possibly the most awesome guitar riffs known to man, and today I’m gonna deliver.
This is a cover of the song Voodoo Child (Slight Return) by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, off the album Electric Ladyland (1968), performed by the Australian rock artist Orianthi. Here are the lyrics if you really need them, but I suggest you just enjoy the show. It’s a good one.

Wow. Just amazing music. Terribly sorry this song has not been recorded in a studio by Orianthi, or that the live cover can be found on Spotify, because I would really love to have this on my Starred list. She is incredibly talented with that guitar (or any other guitar, I’d imagine). An awesome cover, a worthy tribute to Jimi Hendrix, if you ask me. If you want to listen to the original work by the Jimi Hendrix Experience, click here. Just amazing music.

“I’m a Voodoo Child babyI don’t take no for an answer”
(Voodoo Child – the Jimi Hendrix Experience)

Hi, there! Trying to blog a little more now, hoping that if I put in a little work here, I might be motivated to work on my bachelor’s degree. I find it funny how I always feel like blogging or doing something ELSE creative other than the thing I really need to do, like reading/preparing for an exam, writing a paper, or some other more important stuff (especially when I have to write something else!). However, today’s song is Fire It Up by Disturbed, off their newest album, Immortalized (2015). Here are the lyrics. Have a good time listening!

Yes, this song is about smoking weed. No doubt about it. If you didn’t recognize the sounds in the start of the song (sound of a bong, if you didn’t know), you most certainly will understand because of all the euphemisms and metaphors Draiman is using to get the message across. He has even stated himself in an interview (with Loudwire, which you can find here) that it is exactly what the song is about – that he find inspiration to write music while under the influence. It really comes across in the first verse also: “When I need to spark a bit of inspiration / And the melody feels like it’s trapped inside / All I need is a bit of illumination / So the rhythm can no longer run and hide”. The song itself is great. I really like Disturbed. Love the guitar riffs (so many great guitar riffs, oh my God), and the drums and bass are wonderful too. Don’t especially like the topic, but the song is great, and I think it’s working for them, because their music is excellent, this song is no exception. I think the use of metaphors in the song is good, especially “leaves of the devil” I really liked. This is a great song to listen to before you go out, even if you don’t smoke weed, because it is energetic and has great rhythm (or maybe work out to?).

“Fire it upCause when I fire it up, I feel like serenityI feel like serenity, is mine”
(Fire It Up – Disturbed)

Hi! Time for a new song review. This time I’ve chosen a song by the American rock band Flyleaf, called Set Me On Fire, off their album Between the Stars (2014). Here are the lyrics. Enjoy.

If not anything else, at least it’s heavily catchy. Really stuck in my head on and off a lot since the first time I heard it. Not many songs that manage that with me. Maybe I’m not Flyleaf’s biggest fan, but this one went straight to my Starred list on Spotify (except now Spotify has decided to remove the song again – thank God for YouTube). Like the riffs, and like Kristen’s voice, too. Love the prominent bass in the verses, which really makes the otherwise pop-ish tune sound more like rock. The song really comes through in the choruses, loosing somewhat the pop-sound, and Kristen uses her voice more for an energetic rock sound.